Hues of development get overshadowed by conditions of neglect. Global investors are invited, but they end up travelling on roads that are filled with potholes, lined with garbage and spilling sewer.
And denizens fed on dreams of a global city continue to be chased by packs of street dogs on the ill-lit streets of the city where water bodies get shrunk by encroachments and rain water remains accumulated on roads, offering nightmarish times for those on the wheels.
As Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the local body mandated to take care of the civic infrastructure here, heads for polls in a month’s time, questions are raised over the languid pace of development in the city that has been growing in ever-widening circles.
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Glitzy IT complexes continue to come up in areas which do not have basic infrastructure such as roads, and residential towers rise in places that do not even have adequate sewerage network.
With a jurisdiction spread over 625 square kilometre, and with an approximate population of 78 lakh (as per 2011 census), the GHMC not only has the core city area but over the decades encompassed the emerging suburbs into its fold. If the core area suffers from decades’ old irregularly planned growth and insufficient infrastructure, most of the new areas too have similar problems.
“Promises of improved road network have remained unfulfilled for so long that we have come to reconcile with the existing bad conditions. There seems to be no hope for better driving conditions in the city,” rues J. Prabhakar Sastry, a retired private employee of Mettuguda.
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Despite toying with different ideas and concepts in the last several years, the civic body appears to be still not in a position to tackle the problem of garbage collection and disposal. Heaps remain unattended at places, collected waste dumped unscientifically on open stretches on the outskirts, and old and rickety collection vehicles leaving a trail of garbage on city roads is a common sight.
“Now the government has intervened and promised two bins to each household for source segregation. Hope that will ensure that garbage is handled more effectively from now,” says Mohd. Taj, a resident of Farhatnagar.
The annual budget of GHMC has risen from Rs.1,995 crore in the year 2012-13 to Rs.5,550 crore for the present year. Despite the increase, it has does not appear to be translating to improvement in civic amenities in the city. A result of various measures, earnings for the municipal body in the form of property tax has gone up from Rs.364 crore in the year 2009-10 to Rs.1,115 core during the last year.
With its coffers filled satisfactorily, the GHMC has been able to extend assistance to sister agencies such as Metro Water Board and even the Road Transport Corporation.
But Hyderabad remains dotted with an identified 1,466 slums with meagre infrastructure in place, and the present move of the government to provide free two bedroom housing units holds promise of some improvement. The city has a network of 74 major storm water drains running a total length of 390 km, but most of it remains clogged and proves ineffective in quickly flushing out water during the rains.
Once known for its water bodies, the city has lost several to encroachments, and the count few years back ended up identifying 169 lakes which the GHMC, along with other bodies such as Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), has pledged to save and revive.
“Given the emergence of Hyderabad as a major IT and investment destination, the local civic body should put its energies in providing a city that is clean and efficient in every way. When we bought a flat at Kondapur at a high cost, we were surprised to know that there is no proper sewerage system in place,” says S.N. Mehra, an IT professional who relocated here from Mumbai a few years back.
Promises of improved road network have remained unfulfilled for so long that we have come to reconcile with the existing bad conditions.
J. Prabhakar Sastryretired private employee